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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29368641">As We Grow Up (I Still Love You)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_love_with_writing002/pseuds/In_love_with_writing002'>In_love_with_writing002</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Discord Bingo Prompts [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Affectionate Siblings, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Author has siblings, Communication Solves Everything, Do people REALLY make phone calls anymore to their friends?, Eskel has eldest kid energy, Gen, Grindr, M/M, Siblings, Snapchat, Texting, This is a sign to text your siblings if you haven't in a while, fear of commitment, miscommunications, this fic is Very self-indulgent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:22:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,566</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29368641</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_love_with_writing002/pseuds/In_love_with_writing002</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eskel has some... animosity towards the man his baby brother has been texting. Lambert looks to his oldest brother for advice.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aiden/Lambert (The Witcher), Eskel &amp; Lambert (The Witcher)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Discord Bingo Prompts [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>76</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>As We Grow Up (I Still Love You)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for a Discord Bingo event! The prompt for this one was "Revealing a Secret," and gives me a bingo!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Who’s that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambert picked up his phone and checked the notification before clearing it. “Nobody important,” he said, tucking his phone in his pocket to get his hands back on his controller. “Focus on the Mario Kart, Eskel.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His phone buzzed four more times during that race, and each time, Eskel looked pointedly over at Lambert.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that Tinder boy?” Eskel asked when they were finally done with the race. Lambert let out an ever-suffering sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“His name is </span>
  <em>
    <span>Aiden</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Eskel. And we didn’t meet on Tinder.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You met on Grindr.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For fucks—“ Lambert paused when his phone buzzed again, and he smiled, going silent. “I’m heading out now,” he said. “Aiden wants to meet up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Eskel asked with a grin, wiggling his eyebrows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I never should have mentioned this to you, you’re so embarrassing, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eskel laughed gleefully. “Have fun with your hookup, runt,” Eskel said, tugging Lambert back onto the couch for a head kiss when he tried to get up. “Don’t get pregnant.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Eskel</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Lambert whined, pushing him away and fixing his hair. “I’ll be back around six. Want me to bring something for dinner?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, I’ll order takeout or something. For real though, be safe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I always am,” Lambert assured, patting his hip pointedly where his pocket knife was sitting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I meant condoms, but cool.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ugh!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Lambert stuck his tongue out at him as he grabbed his house keys.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you!” Eskel called as he opened the door and left.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Love you, too!” Lambert called back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What on earth was Eskel going to do with all his free time now? Usually, he’d use the time he had when he was bored to pester Lambert and listen to him talk about this boy he was seeing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yes… </span>
  <em>
    <span>Aiden.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Eskel was cautious of Aiden, the boy that had been messaging his baby brother for weeks. Lambert was young, and he fell in and out of love easily, and Eskel wasn’t sure if he’d ever find The One to settle down with. It was fine if he didn’t, really. Eskel liked having his siblings close, and with Geralt living across town, the distance felt like a yawning gap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was hard watching his siblings grow up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s twenty-three, Eskel,” he said to himself, out loud. “He’s an adult who can take care of himself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Lambert would always be his baby brother. After all, Eskel didn’t just </span>
  <em>
    <span>stop </span>
  </em>
  <span>being Lambert’s oldest brother. Maybe he should call their dad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His phone buzzed.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Runt: </b>
  <em>
    <span>You know that I get a notification every time you start typing, right? Stop blowing me up, I’m okay.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Eskel smiled at his phone.</span>
</p><p><b>You:</b> <em><span>Don’t text and drive, that’s how car accidents happen</span></em></p><p>
  <b>Runt: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Not driving</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>You: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t get kidnapped</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Runt: </b>
  <em>
    <span>You worrywart.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Eskel blinked as a notification popped up that Lambert had sent a photo. It was a picture of a man mostly in profile, his face looking away toward the road. Brown hair curled around his neck, and most of his face was obscured by a hand, although Eskel could tell he was grinning. It was captioned “</span>
  <em>
    <span>He doesn’t like photos taken of him.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Eskel chuckled and set his phone aside. Lambert was good at getting him out of his head when he felt particularly stuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What had he planned to do while Lambert was out?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eskel’s stomach growled with perfect timing, and he patted it soothingly. “Alright. Fuel then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m home,” Lambert said, the door opening from across the room. “You get bored without me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was fine,” Eskel said, waving a hand. Still, he got up and wandered closer, grabbing him and tugging him in for a hug. “You’re home early. And you smell clean. Did things not go the way you hoped?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambert hugged him back, but then shoved him away. “You know I see people for more than just sex, right?” He said, raising an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, but on Tin— sorry, on </span>
  <em>
    <span>Grindr?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambert opened his mouth and then looked away, before taking a deep breath. “Okay, I have something to tell you,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?” Eskel asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but- on the couch. I gotta sit down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something serious? And after Eskel had mentioned Grindr… why..?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright,” Eskel muttered, moving over to the couch and sitting in his corner. Lambert brought a knee into the couch as he got comfortable, bending in a position that definitely looked uncomfortable, even if it was hypocritical based on how </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> was sitting. “What is it?” He asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambert sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know how I said that Aiden and I met on Grindr a few weeks ago? And that.. we’ve just been messaging for a while?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eskel lifted his eyebrows. “Yeah?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well…” Lambert bit his lip. “We… met in person, before we started talking there. It was at a uh, a thing for work, the networking thing we did a couple... months ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Months?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hang on— Lambert had mentioned that he’d had a one night thing with a guy a while back. “Was he the one with the tongue piercing that freaked you out when you were making out with him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambert covered his face with a hand, hiding the blush on his cheeks. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yeah</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he croaked. “I thought he was fucking weird, but then I found him and his picture was so </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice </span>
  </em>
  <span>and I started texting him and—“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aww,” Eskel tugged him across the couch until Lambert had his head on Eskel’s chest. Lambert pressed his face into the crook of his arm, painfully reminiscent of how he used to when they were still kids and Lambert needed comfort after doing a lot of homework. “You like him a lot?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eskel, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>bolted</span>
  </em>
  <span> tonight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” Eskel ran a hand through his brother’s hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He asked me if I wanted to try dating. Proper dating. You know how scared I am of ruining-“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lambert.” Eskel paused and looked down at him, watching his face peek out of the seam of his armpit. “Is he nice?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambert nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you like him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambert nodded again, his cheeks turning a bit pinker.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t date him, unless you don’t want to. How’d you get home, anyway? Didn’t he drive you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I drove to his place, he drove to the place we were going. He doesn’t live too far.” Lambert sighed for the thousandth time, like the drama queen he was. Eskel loved him to pieces, but he could be so blind sometimes. “I don’t want to mess things up like I always do. He’s… different, Eskel.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand,” Eskel hummed. “I think you might mess up anyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, really reassuring, asshat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“However</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I think that if he’s as crazy about you as you are about him, then a little mistake won’t shatter you apart.” Eskel had a lot of experience with relationships that didn’t stick around. He didn’t see himself as the type to settle, but their brother Geralt had come to him for advice too. He’d been navigating the ins and outs of his polyamorous relationship, and while Eskel didn’t know the first thing about how to deal with that, communication </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> something he was good at. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Talk to him. Explain why you’re afraid. At the very least, he deserves an explanation about why you ran off so quickly. He’s probably agonizing over what </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>did wrong right now. Miscommunication makes for good drama, but not a good love story.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re so wise,” Lambert mumbled. “Can I get you to talk to him, too? I’m just going to be awkward about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eskel grinned. “Sure, Lamb. I’ll tell him all about how you used to make potions out of dirt and leaves in our backyard until you were twelve. Or maybe I’ll tell him about how you cried while watching Lilo and Stitch last time we watched it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>dick, </span>
  </em>
  <span>you know how that movie gets to me. And you weren’t exactly dry-eyed either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay fine, I’ll take that one. What about when you had that crush on Kiera Metz in middle school?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are despicable,” Lambert huffed.</span>
</p><p><span>“Oh, I’ll do it. I’ll show him your old diary entries about how you dreamt of kissing her under a </span><em><span>Sakura</span></em> <em><span>tree</span></em><span>.”</span></p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fine,</span>
  </em>
  <span> I’ll talk to him!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eskel grinned. “Gotcha.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambert dropped his forehead onto Eskel’s chest. “Thanks,” he murmured. “For taking me seriously. And the advice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” Eskel said, rubbing his back fondly. “Now get up, your elbow’s digging into my bladder. And you have a phone call to make.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know nobody even </span>
  <em>
    <span>makes </span>
  </em>
  <span>phone calls anymore?” Lambert grumbled as he got up. “We just text each other.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambert’s phone buzzed. And again. And again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were saying, about phone calls?” Eskel asked, seeing the name “Aiden” on his call ID.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen, I said he was weird.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bet you like weird,” Eskel said, grabbing his phone and handing it to him. “Good luck,” he said, knocking their foreheads together as he got up to go to the bathroom. He heard the beginning of their conversation as he left, and smiled, feeling like he’d done well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Aiden. Yeah, I know I— let me explain. Listen, I know you’re probably freaking out, but I gotta get some stuff off my chest before we get to the mushy stuff. I talked to my brother and got some advice…”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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